


Myth Buster

by 4thofFive



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Gen, Hurt feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-02
Updated: 2013-09-02
Packaged: 2017-12-25 11:02:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/952301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/4thofFive/pseuds/4thofFive
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny's hears something that busts one of the myths about 5-0 - and his partnership with Steve.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Myth Buster

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first story I've written in a long time. Not sure if I've lost my mojo or my 5-0-jo.

Danny finished conferring with Duke Lukela and turned to walk back to the Camaro. He’d been called to a crime scene to see if the body that had been discovered in an alley with a knife in its neck was that of Warren Diaz, a small time dealer 5-0 had been looking for in connection with one of its many cases. 

Since Steve was meeting with the Governor and Chin and Kono were tracking down leads on another case, Danny had run over to the crime scene to take a look. Fortunately it wasn’t Diaz so the hunt for the petty drug dealer would continue.

Danny froze when he heard a familiar snickering from behind him and felt his stomach roil. He turned to see Andy Kahiona standing in the middle of the sidewalk, flabby arms crossed arrogantly on his chest. Danny tightened his jaw in annoyance. 

Kahiona was a long-time detective who was known throughout the department as being lazy, barely competent and probably shady. He’d done little more than warm a chair in the narcotics bureau for eight years. Danny couldn’t figure out why someone hadn’t done the world a favour and just put a bullet in the asshole’s head.

When Danny had moved to Hawaii and joined the HPD, the 52-year-old cop had made it his business to make the Newark detective’s life hell – a hell that had mercifully ended when Danny joined 5-0.

“Well if it isn’t the great Detective Sergeant Daniel Williams,” Kahiona mocked in a sing-song voice. “Come to teach us dumb islanders how to solve crime again Danny?”

Danny turned to fully face his long-time tormentor head on. He’d stopped backing down from bullies when he was seven years old and shoved Garrison Walker into a puddle for calling him shrimp.

“I wouldn’t waste my time trying to teach anything to a moron like you Kahiona. My 10-year-old daughter is a better detective than you…”

Danny looked down at the older man’s scuffed, perpetually untied running shoes. 

“…and she can actually tie her own shoe laces…”

Kahiona jammed his fists on his hips and glared at Danny.

“Bite me Williams.”

Danny gave him an ice-cold smile.

“Sorry sweetheart, I like my meat lean.”

As Danny turned away, Kahiona snorted loudly and shook his head in disgust.

“No wonder Governor Jameson had to force McGarrett to hire you for 5-0 you arrogant little prick. Who the fuck would want you around if they didn’t have to?”

Danny smirked and rolled his eyes. Kahiona was such a lying sack of shit. He turned back and sneered at the older men.

“As usual Kahiona you have no idea what you’re talking about. Steve chose me for 5-0 himself. No one forced him.”

Kahiona’s piggy face brightened and his eyes widened with malicious joy.

“You didn’t know!” he crowed happily, clapping his hands together in glee. “You didn’t know the Governor phoned your precious Steve and told him to hire you on the first day after you ran into each other in his old man's garage. McGarrett refused but she insisted. Apparently he told her you weren’t the kind of person he wanted to be a part of the team.”

Danny felt his face flush but he swallowed thickly as he struggled to maintain a look of disbelief. He jammed one shaking hand in his pocket. This had to be crap. Kahiona would say anything to get a rise out of him

“Oh and you know this how?” he snapped.

Kahiona crossed his arms on his chest and grinned happily.

“The Governor told me herself,” he boasted. “We’d known each other a long time. She said McGarrett kicked up a fuss when she wanted him to hire you. Threatened to drop the task force before it started but she told him to try you out and if he really couldn’t get along with you, he could ship you back to HPD.”

Danny snorted derisively but knew it didn’t sound very convincing. He knew he should just ignore what Kahiona was saying. The whole thing sounded far-fetched. It couldn’t be true…it just couldn’t.

“And how the hell would the Governor know about me? I hadn’t even met her at that point.”

Kahiona made a disgusted face and rolled his eyes.

“Supposedly you solved some big case two weeks after landing on the island. Something HPD had been working on for months. I told her you probably tripped over the evidence or got a lucky break but she seemed to think you were a good addition to 5-0.” 

He looked Danny up and down as if the younger detective were a piece of garbage. 

“Needless to say I didn’t agree with her.”

Danny pulled his hand out of his pocket and took a step closer to the vicious Hawaiian cop until their faces were mere inches apart.

“You’re jealous Kahiona. You’ve always been jealous that I got chosen for 5-0 instead of you. Even if what you say is true it doesn’t matter because 5-0 is the best of the best and we make useless, lazy cops like you look like something from a Marx Brother’s film.”

Kahiona’s face tensed into rage. He dropped his hands to his side and fisted them tightly.

“Watch your mouth you arrogant haole asshole!”

“Fuck you!” Danny spat back at the older man.

Kahiona took a step back and threw a punch at Danny catching him high on his left cheek. The detective’s head snapped back and he stumbled slightly but he barely registered the hit and instead lashed out with a vicious punch to Kahiona’s gut that knocked the wind out of the older man and dropped him to his knees.

The people standing behind the crime scene tape gasped and the cops on crowd control started to move towards the two fighting officers. Danny raised one hand to them and the uniformed cops stopped and watched the scene warily, ready to intervene if things escalated.

Danny stood over the whimpering man and closed his eyes tightly to reign in his temper or he knew he would beat the asshole black and blue. Finally he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He bent down and grabbed Kahiona by his thinning hair and jerked his head back forcing the older cop to look up into his face.

“You stay away from me and the rest of my team from now on Kahiona,” Danny growled. “If you say one word to me that isn’t strictly job-related I’m going to knock your teeth from your mouth. You got it?”

Kahiona let out a whimper and Danny released his head with a shove then wiped his hand on his pants as if he’d caught some kind of virus from Kahiona’s hair. The Jersey native turned and strode away from the still gasping Hawaiian cop.

*********

 

Danny pushed through the main doors of the 5-0 offices and hesitated when he saw the rest of the 5-0 team standing around the tech table. The punch he’d taken to his left cheekbone was bright red and swollen and he knew eagle-eye McGarrett would see it immediately.

He lowered his head and began to walk past the team on his way to his office. 

“Got some work to do,” he announced in a faux chipper voice, giving his friends a distracted wave. “I’ll be in my office.”

“Just a second Danno,” Steve interrupted his partner’s progress. “I just want to go through the evidence on the MacMillan case before we send it all to the Prosecuting Attorney. Can you take us through the financials you put together?”

Danny sighed quietly. It was stupid to think he could hide the injury. It wasn’t like someone wouldn’t spot it when it began to bruise. Might as well face the music. He lifted his head and straightened up to walk over to the tech table. 

Chin and Kono both sucked in a startled breath and Steve’s eyes widened when he saw his partner’s red and swollen cheek. He reached out and grabbed Danny lightly by the jaw and turned the smaller man’s head so he could get a good look at the injury.

“What the hell happened to your face Danno?” He demanded in annoyance. 

The detective gently pulled his head away from Steve’s hand and shrugged slightly. He gave his partner what he hoped looked like an embarrassed smile.

“Bumped into the door frame when I was coming in downstairs,” the blonde man answered breezily. “I should never text and walk at the same time I guess.”

Kono and Chin snickered but Steve stared at his partner appraisingly for a moment, clearly not believing the lie but obviously choosing not to get into it in front of the whole team.

“I’m getting you a cold pack,” he announced turning towards his office.

Danny reached out and snagged Steve’s elbow.

“It’s not necessary babe. I’m fine.”

Steve huffed in annoyance and pulled away to walk to his office and dig a chemical ice pack from his desk.

“I’ll be the judge of that. You’ll take it and you’ll use it.”

“Bossy,” Danny grumbled under his breath.

**********

It was just after 5 p.m. when Steve walked into Danny’s office with his ‘man on a mission’ face. Danny knew he was about to be interrogated and was surprised that Steve had waited this long. Kono and Chin had already left for the day so it was just the two of them. .

Steve dropped down into one of the leather upholstered visitor chairs in front of Danny’s desk, crossed his legs and gazed at his partner expectantly, his eyes pausing briefly on the purpling bruise on Danny’s face.

“Well?” the SEAL demanded.

“Well what?” Danny retorted as he took longer than strictly necessary to log off his computer.

Steve sighed in annoyance.

“Don’t dick around with me Danny you know exactly what I’m asking. How did you get the bruise on your face?”

Danny kept his head down as he made a show of shuffling the papers on his desk.

“I already told you.”

“Yes but you were lying so now tell me the truth. You got into a fight didn’t you? Who hit you?”

Danny blew out a breath as he sank back against his chair and ran a hand down his face flinching when he touched the tender spot.

“It’s no big deal. Kahiona punched me so I punched him back. It’s all water under the bridge.”

Danny watched as Steve stiffened visibly and dropped both feet to the floor with a thump, his eyes now flashing with anger.

“Kahiona? That asshole. What was it about?”

Danny shook his head and opened a draw to shove the papers inside, all the while keeping his eyes averted from Steve’s.

“It doesn’t matter Steve. It was no big thing.”

“Daniel!” Steve snapped sitting up straight and leaning forward slightly. “I want to know what happened, right now. Or would you prefer I get Captain Chong into it and make it a big deal?”

Danny slammed the desk door shut and glared at his partner. Steve was unlikely to take the matter up with Kahiona’s captain since it might get Danny into trouble too. But he wouldn’t put it past the SEAL to go and punch Kahiona in the nose. Steve didn’t like anyone messing with his team.

After a moment Danny deflated visibly knowing he wasn’t going to win this war of wills. He picked up a pen to spin it mindlessly on the desktop as he spoke. 

“It’s just…he said something and then I… well I responded and he punched me.”

“What did he say?” Steve probed insistently.

Danny licked his bottom lip and looked up at his best friend and partner nervously.

“He said…” Danny sighed. “He said Governor Jameson ordered you to put me on the 5-0 team. That you didn’t pick me yourself because you didn’t want me – she forced you.”

As Danny spoke he watched Steve’s face pale slightly and knew instantly that the story was true. His heart sank.

“Oh.”

“Danny…” Steve began carefully.

The blonde detective forced a smile to his face and dropped the pen to wave his hand dismissively.

“It’s ok. It doesn’t matter it’s just…I’m not sure why you didn’t tell me but it’s not important.”

“Danny I just…you have to understand…”

Danny stood abruptly and dug in another drawer for his gun. He shoved it in his holster and tidied his desk in preparation for leaving for the day.

“It’s ok Steve,” he insisted, his eyes firmly on his desk while his hands did busy work. “It’s not a big deal right? I mean I’m here now. You didn’t get rid of me so…”

Steve also climbed to his feet and took a few anxious steps towards his best friend one hand outstretched.

“Danny...why don’t we go to my place? We’ll have a couple of beers and I’ll throw something on the grill. We can talk.”

Danny forced himself to look up and smile again. He was certain the smile looked pained.

“There’s nothing to talk about babe, really. It doesn’t matter. It’s just…it would have been nice to hear it from you rather than that jackass Kahiona. He was thrilled to lord it over me.”

Steve dropped his hands to his side limply and gave Danny a pleading look.

“I should have told you I just…there didn’t seem to be any reason to. I realized quickly the Governor was right about you – that you were a good addition to the team so I just…” The SEAL lifted and dropped his hands in a gesture of helplessness.

Danny nodded rapidly. He was surprised how much this upset him.

“Yeah, yeah I can see that. I just…well I thought I was the first one you picked you know? I’d always been kind of proud of that and now I find out…well I guess Chin is the only one you really picked.”

“That’s not true,” responded Steve quietly.

Danny huffed out a mirthless laugh and came around the desk to stand near the door, his hand on the knob.

“No I guess you sort of picked Kono too after Chin introduced you to her.”

“Danno,” Steve continued, walking over to stand next to his partner. He put a hand on the smaller man’s shoulder and squeezed it firmly.

“The day we met in my dad’s garage…after I left the Governor called me and I told her about the stand off you and I had. She recognized your name and told me she wanted you to be on the team. I said no…”

Danny opened his mouth to interject but Steve held up his free hand, palm out to stop his words.

“Not because I didn’t think you were a good cop – I didn’t really know anything about you at that moment – but because you didn’t back down in the garage. I was used to men who obeyed me without question and it was obvious you weren’t that kind. I guess I…I thought that was the kind of team I wanted; people who did what I told them to do without question. It was only later, after I worked with you a bit and you punched me that I realized that I didn’t need that at all. I needed someone who was a good cop but also someone who would stand up to me and call me on my bullshit. A punch in the jaw convinced me that person was you.”

Danny stood quietly for a moment, his eyes downcast. He knew he shouldn’t let this bother him. Ultimately it didn’t matter. But somehow it felt like a major piece of the mythology of 5-0, of his relationship to his partner, was built on a lie.

“Why did you always continue with the story that you chose me? That you’d decided on me while we were in that garage?”

Steve shrugged slightly as he slid his hand up Danny’s shoulder to gently cup the back of his partner’s neck.

“I don’t know. At first it didn’t seem to matter and then…I guess I’d convinced myself that story was true. In reality I think I had decided on you in that garage or I wouldn’t have mentioned you to the Governor. I just had to come to grips with the idea that I would be taking on a partner who wouldn’t jump at my every command.”

Danny looked up slowly, not even trying to hide his hurt feelings now.

“Were you ever sorry?” he asked quietly.

Steve smiled down at him fondly.

“That I chose you? Never,” the Commander replied firmly. “Were there times I wanted to kill you? Yes. Were there times I wanted to throw you out of the car at 60 miles an hour? Definitely. But I never regretted having you for my partner. You helped me build 5-0 Danny. Without you I don’t think we would have been as successful as we’ve been. Of course Chin and Kono are great cops and I’m a good leader but without you there to keep me on track, to loudly point out my mistakes, to push me to do the right thing, I just don’t know how well we would have done.”

Danny couldn’t help the small smile that quirked at the corner of his mouth. His feelings were still a little hurt but he knew without a doubt that Steve never meant to hurt him and probably really had convinced himself that he had chosen Danny. In the end, Danny was a part of 5-0, he was the second in command and they were a great outfit.

But he wasn’t about to let Steve off the hook that easily. He narrowed his eyes, crossed his arms on his chest and glared up at his friend.

“Steak, beer, and…I don’t know… a banana split. These are the things you will provide to me right away to make up for keeping this information from me.”

Steve pressed his lips together lowered his head like a scolded child. Danny wasn’t buying the act for a moment.

“Yes Danno,” Steve answered contritely as he suppressed a smile.

Danny jabbed a finger in the taller man’s chest.

“And for one week I get to drive my own car…”

Steve snapped his head up and opened his mouth to argue his outrage. 

“But Danno…!” Steve wailed. Danny shook his head firmly. You had to nip this sort of misbehaviour in the bud or Steve, like any child, would take advantage.

“That’s your punishment for letting me hear all this from that dust mite Kahiona instead of from you.”

Steve sighed and shoved his hands in his pocket and kicked the door frame with the toe of his boot. He stuck out his bottom lip in a patented SEAL pout.

“Not fair.”

Danny rolled his eyes and grabbed Steve by the shoulders and turned him to begin pushing him out of his office.

“Keep it up and it will be two weeks!” he growled in his best Father voice.

 

The end


End file.
